Pizza Fan Workers In Limbo As Race To Reopen Chain Begins

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Executives at Pizza Fan are working around the clock to restore the call center that took orders for the chain’s stores across Greece, along with the software system, so that the business can gradually reopen. Meanwhile, about 2,500 employees face an uncertain future after the sudden shutdown of the chain’s 110 stores.

The stores closed on Thursday (October 22), when authorities began arresting owner Konstantinos Antaras and dozens of other executives as part of a 35-million-euro tax evasion case. The investigation, led by Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), centers on an alleged scheme in which paid orders were recorded as free “treats” using illegal software. Antaras and a close associate are due to testify before the investigating magistrate on Tuesday.

Operations Frozen, Buyout Talks Underway

The Financial Police seized the call center and the software as key evidence in the case, making it impossible for the store network to take orders. The chain’s operations have not been formally suspended, but in practice they cannot continue without the call center. So far, neither the Financial and Economic Crime Unit (SDOE) nor AADE has ordered a shutdown or a tax seal on the business.

At the same time, although there is no management in place after the company’s leaders were remanded in custody, informal talks are underway about a possible buyout of the chain.

The food service workers’ union, which held a meeting on Saturday, is demanding that the jobs of the chain’s 2,500 employees be protected, that unpaid wages be paid and that their insurance coverage continue. According to sources at the Labor Ministry, the priority is to keep the business running and protect jobs, so that emergency measures for workers will not be needed.

“We Learned the News From TV”

Workers say they received no official information about what was happening, and many learned of the developments from television and the internet. The felony charges brought in the case have deepened their fears that the stores may never reopen.

Kostas, who worked as a delivery driver in Kerameikos for seven years, said he showed up for work and was simply told to leave. “We’re all already looking for a day’s wage,” he said. “When will we get paid for the work we’ve done? We don’t even know that. We have families. I have three children.”

Giannis, a delivery driver with six years at the Zografou and Ymittos stores, said police were waiting outside when staff arrived early on Thursday to prepare for the day. “No information at all,” he said. “Right now, we are left hanging. It was my only job. If Pizza Fan reopens, we’ll work at Pizza Fan. If not, we’ll look for work.”

Magdi, a delivery driver in Ampelokipoi, said he arrived for his shift, had his details recorded during the inspection and was told by his manager to take the day off. He has been without work since. Azim, also from the Ampelokipoi store, received a phone call telling him not to come in. “Now I’m sitting at home, unemployed,” he said, calling for some form of state support.

Workers insist they saw nothing suspicious in daily transactions, saying orders came with receipts. “We worked normally, like everyone else,” said Tania, a cook at the Kerameikos store. Manos, a delivery driver at the same store, said staff had no knowledge of any software manipulation or instructions from above. “Maybe the franchise owners or the supervisors knew. We are employees,” he said.

Workers are particularly worried about their October wages. Since the stores closed around October 21 and 22 and most staff are paid monthly, they have not yet received pay for the days they worked. Many are reportedly considering legal action against the company’s owners to secure their pay and severance.

What the Law Says

Labor lawyers stress that employment contracts are not automatically terminated when a business closes. According to labor lawyer Giannis Karouzos, if a business cannot operate for reasons attributable to the employer and not to force majeure, contracts remain in force and the employer must still pay wages. Under Article 656 of the Civil Code, workers can claim their pay in such cases. If the closure stems from the company’s own tax violations, he says, there is a strong argument that this is the employer’s responsibility.

Labor lawyer Dionysis Rizos told Zougla that the tax case does not justify the employer terminating contracts unilaterally, and that labor law must be followed in full. He advised workers to formally notify the company, through an out-of-court notice, that they remain available to work, which preserves their contracts while they withhold their labor due to unpaid wages. He also urged them not to accept claims of force majeure, which he said only the courts can decide.

Rizos explained that a temporary suspension could place workers in a special availability status for at least three months, while a permanent closure would require formal termination of contracts and severance payments, allowing workers to claim unemployment benefits. Until then, he said, employers are in default and owe back pay.

He added that franchise stores face a separate problem, since their employers are not the parent company but franchise owners struggling to obtain supplies. Placing all 2,500 workers under a suspension scheme would require a special political and ministerial decision. Given the scale of the case, Rizos said, the state should step in with support from the Public Employment Service (DYPA) or a special framework to protect the workers.

The Wiretaps: “She Paid Cash, I Pressed ‘Treat’”

Meanwhile, transcripts of phone conversations from the investigation, published by To Vima, offer a picture of how the alleged scheme worked.

In one call, a store manager asks urgently for a supervisor because a customer who had paid in cash returned five minutes later asking for a receipt. “She paid cash, I pressed ‘treat,’ and then she came back for the receipt,” he says. He explains that a receipt cannot be issued unless the original “treat” entry is canceled and a new order is created.

In another call, about a customer complaint in Lagonisi, an executive suggests telling the customer that the receipt had been issued but was lost by the delivery driver. A colleague replies that this is impossible, because the order was recorded as a “treat” the day before and a receipt can no longer be issued. The two later discuss the risk of the customer reporting the case to AADE.

A third conversation shows executives insisting that changes to the “treats” system be communicated only verbally. “Nobody informs anyone of anything, only by word of mouth,” one says, adding that no one should send text messages.

In a fourth call, about a store in Kalamaria, two executives discuss money kept “off the books.” One says there was “a steady 500 every day,” and for about a week as much as 1,100 to 1,500 euros, after the store’s card terminal stopped working and he told customers to pay in cash.

In the fifth conversation, a store manager links the frequency of “treats” directly to VAT payments. Asked when he did not pay VAT, he replies: “When the treats were higher.” He says he has been paying normally for the past few quarters, as “treats” decreased, and is waiting to see the effect now that they have started to rise again.

In its first statement on the case, Pizza Fan said there may have been “confusion in the calculation of turnover.” Lawyers for Antaras and his associate maintain that Pizza Fan is “not a ghost company.”